Ajax the Lesser

Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Ajax was a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris. He was called the "lesser" or "Locrian" Ajax, to distinguish him from Ajax the Great, son of Telamon. He was the leader of the Locrian contingent during the Trojan War. He is a significant figure in Homer's Iliad and is also mentioned in the Odyssey and Virgil's Aeneid. In Etruscan legend, he was known as Aivas Vilates. His mother's name was Eriopis. According to Strabo, he was born in Naryx in Locris, where Ovid calls him Narycius Heros. According to the Iliad, he led his Locrians in forty ships against Troy. He is described as one of the great heroes among the Greeks. When the grammatical dual form of Ajax is used in the Iliad, it was once believed that it indicated the lesser Ajax fighting side-by-side with Telamonian Ajax, but now it is generally thought that that usage refers to the Greater Ajax and his brother Teucer. In battle, he wore a linen cuirass, was brave and intrepid, especially skilled in throwing the spear and, next to Achilles, the swiftest of all the Greeks.